Former WMU tight end Branden Ledbetter 'determined' to give pro football 'one last shot'

View full sizeJonathon Gruenke / Kalamazoo GazetteBranden Ledbetter, right, then a Western Michigan University tight end, proposes to his girlfriend, Julie Biondo, then a WMU cheerleader, after the Broncos' game on Nov. 1, 2008. Ledbetter and Biondo are now married, and Ledbetter is attempting one more shot at professional football.

KALAMAZOO — Branden Ledbetter is both tired and inspired these days.

Tired of watching NFL games and wondering. Inspired by a former college teammate’s resurrected football career.

So the former Western Michigan University tight end is giving professional football one more shot, beginning with Spokane (Wash.) Shock of the Arena Football League.

Ledbetter, a three-time all-conference tight end (2006-08) with the Broncos, signed his contract Monday.

“To be honest with you, it’s kind of hard watching the (NFL) games on Sundays,” Ledbetter said Tuesday. “You’re watching the games and thinking you could be out there. It’s tough and you want to give it another shot and I’m focused this time and determined to get it done.”

His belief that it could be done was aided by the trek of former WMU star Jamarko Simmons, who went from the AFL to the United Football League to the New York Jets’ practice squad over the past few months. Simmons was placed on the Jets’ injured reserve list this week with a lower back injury.

View full sizeKalamazoo Gazette fileWMU lost star tight end Brandon Ledbetter for the rest of the regular season on this play against Illinois in 2008. Ledbetter lost 15 pounds after suffering an abdominal injury.

Ledbetter’s first attempt at an NFL career was derailed, in part, because of the end of his career at WMU. He suffered a serious abdominal injury against Illinois in November of his senior season and returned for the Texas Bowl at 220 pounds, 15 pounds below his playing weight.

By his pro day, heeding bad advice, he’d added 30 pounds to his 6-foot-5 frame, and too quickly. Once running the 40-yard dash in the 4.5-second range, he clocked in at 4.8 seconds.

After an NFL tryout, Ledbetter played with the United Football League’s California Redwoods in 2009. He’s been out of football since.

Finished with his degree and recently married to Julie Blondo — a former WMU cheerleader to whom he proposed on the field at Waldo Stadium after a game on Nov. 1, 2008 — Ledbetter is finally again able to put most of his attention on football.

“It comes right back, to be honest with you,” said Ledbetter, who caught 131 passes for 1,513 yards and a tight end school-record 20 touchdowns at WMU. “I’m still pretty young, even taking some time off to get that other stuff done, I’ve always been training, at least working out throughout the time I’ve been in Kalamazoo.

View full sizeKalamazoo Gazette fileBranden Ledbetter caught 131 passes and 20 touchdowns and was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference selection in his career at WMU.

“I’m pretty lucky as far as that goes, that I’m able to bounce right back and I feel pretty good even after running routes with the (current WMU players) for a few weeks.”

Ledbetter’s agent is a friend of the Spokane Shock’s general manager. That initial connection, coupled with a highlight tape cut together by WMU’s coaching staff, led to this opportunity.

Ledbetter, now 25 years old and 240 pounds, expects to play receiver in the tight end-less AFL.

“I played a lot of wideout at Western. And even when I was playing tight end, I was split out a lot,” said Ledbetter, who reports for the Shock’s training camp Feb. 16. “This will also give me an opportunity to show some scouts that I can flex out still run and catch the ball.

“That’s my best asset, I feel, would be running routes and catching the ball. So hopefully, given that opportunity, I’ll be able to go out there and gain some confidence back and go from there.”

From there, Ledbetter hopes, he’ll take a similar route to that of Simmons.

“That’s awesome,” Ledbetter said of Simmons’ revived career. “And that’s part of the reason I came back a little bit, too, seeing him and he’s had a couple injuries himself. To be able to come back and bounce back from that. He’s kind of in the same situation I am, really. He has a little kid and he’s just been fighting and working hard and it pays off.

“The tight end position is in demand right now, that’s kind of why I want to give it one last shot right now and go out there and try to do my best, run around a little bit and see what happens at the end of the season.”